Think of domestic violence victims as a waterfall of people, who the community is trying to save, the ex-Bundaberg psychologist says.

"We need to go upstream and see what is causing the problem."

Dr Sullivan, who spent three years with Bundaberg community care group Centacare in the late 1990s, is now working at the source on a program that is heading here - the sooner the better, advocates agree.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports both women and men are more likely to experience violence at the hands of men; about 95% of all victims of violence report a male perpetrator.

While men are more likely to experience violence by other men in public places, women are more likely to experience violence from men they know, often in the home, and the overwhelming majority of acts of domestic violence and sexual assault are by men against women.